Year: 2009

This time of the year generally makes one feel festive and happy. Of course there is the tiredness and the nervousness that you won’t do everything on time-cooking, present buying and wrapping, sending[...]read more

Lately you cannot open the newspaper or tabloid magazine without your eye hitting the name of Tiger Woods and his supposed indiscretions. I understand that he is a public persona and one of the greatest[...]read more

Most of us, be it a man or a woman, follow fashion. Some do it in passing, others take it seriously. I am somewhere in the middle, i.e. I pay attention to what is going on the fashion scene but don’t[...]read more

The hot subject of this week was the size of bankers bonuses and the decision of the Chancellor to tax the bonuses above £25k. The more I listen to those discussions the angrier it makes me because[...]read more

It is that time of the year when we all feel run down, frazzled and grumpy. Too many tasks and not enough hours in the day, and definitely no time left for ‘me’ time, which we keep on talking about[...]read more

A January issue of the British Elle landed on my door mat today and oh my God, it has a sexy goddess named Helena Christensen on its cover. I must admit, she wasn’t one of my favourite ‘supers’-I loved Christy and my husband worshiped Linda- but lately Helena makes me look at her with a fresh pair of eyes.

Not so long ago I saw Helena eating at Locanda Locatelli-they feed you so well, you clothes start stretching as you go from course to course-and even though I recognised her, she didn’t seem superhuman, just a pretty woman with a nice aura. But today, when I saw the subscribers cover, she made me draw in a breath and if I was a boy I probably would have whistled!

She looks healthy & tanned, confident and sexy and so, so pretty. She wears the clothes and not the other way around and… I really enjoyed the interview, as it had humour and substance to it. This woman makes me curious and do I want to go to the gym to get a body like hers!! She seems comfortable in her own skin and you don’t get that sense about many models nowadays, do you? Viva Helena, the smart goddess of beauty and a nice role model for the younger generation!

Last week I was driving from Central London with my son safely buckled up in his car seat in the back. The traffic was getting busier and the light was dimming, day turning into the evening. I decided to use the side streets to get to my destination and after signalling, started turning from the main road. As I was doing it, I noticed that a woman started crossing the road with a toddler, who was fast asleep in the buggy. I stopped and waited for the woman to pass. She must have been deep in thought as half way through the crossing she suddenly stopped, looked at me and started moving back. I was puzzled. I then waved to her, to let her cross the road before I turned into it. She did and then started saying something to me, mimicking and waving her hands. I turned into the road, stopped and pushed the button to open the window.

Instead of a ‘thank you’, which I didn’t expect-it’s only normal to let someone pass, I got an earful of abuse, like ‘watch where you are going’, ‘you didn’t signal’ etc. I calmly sized her up and told her to calm down, stop day dreaming when crossing a road and that I had a child in the back too, so why would I risk him or another child’? With that I drove off.

We live in a crazy world that seems to be moving faster every day. People are in a constant rush, with millions of things to do and problems to solve. I can certainly relate to women with kids, who have to balance too many things, probably lack sleep and sometimes even sanity on certain days. But why, when it wasn’t my fault and I was meant to be courteous, did I get such rudeness from a fellow mother or nanny? I don’t have an answer to that.

Would I behave differently next time? Probably not. I just wish that people stop blaming other people for their mistakes and acknowledge acts of civility and kindness with a smile or a friendly wave. This is all it takes to cheer someone up or to let them know that you appreciate their kind deed.

I have been meaning to go and see this exhibition for a while now, as it was getting quite a few column inches in the newspapers plus Tate Modern building is surrounded by so many unusual buildings that is always nice to just go and walk in the area, observing people, the river and the surroundings. It was raining really badly by the time I got there on saturday, so I rushed in but the coolish air inside didn’t make me feel too welcome either. Well, at least it was dry….

The exhibition is called ‘Pop life: Art in a Material World’ and is spread over several rooms on the 4th floor. You can see the works by Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami (I so love his work!), Andy Warhol, Tracy Emin and other artists. Some of the exhibits on display are completely beyond my comprehension, like Damien Hurst’s sheep in formaldehyde or the ‘dead’ horse lying on the floor with a spear going through it. Two of the exhibition’s rooms contain the material of sexual nature and you won’t be let in if you are under 18. I can only say that the room dedicated to Jeff Koon’s art, mostly containing photos or sculptures of him having intercourse with his ex-wife, pornstar Cicciolina, is quite grotesque.

The only room that I really enjoyed was dedicated to Takashi Murakami and contained shoes that he made in collaboration with Louis Vuitton, some sculptures and colorful figurines and my absolute favorite, a video titled ‘Akihabara’ which stars an actress Kirsten Dunst and was produced by the artist. I ended up humming the tune for the rest of the day.

All in all, I thought that seeing this exhibition, which cost me £12.50, was a waste of my time. The brochure that you can pick up before entering says that ‘Pop life examines how artists since the 80s have cultivated public personas and conjured a dazzling mix of media, commerce and glamour to build their own ‘brands’’. I didn’t learn anything new and most of the exhibits on display made me question their substance.

I never thought it would come to this. I wore leggings when I was a young girl with a long ponytail. It was easy to throw them on plus a t-shirt and go play with my girlfriends in the playground. Then I went to Uni, grew up-well, kind of- started working and the issue of leggings wasn’t on my mind at all. Then they came into fashion, and everyone seems to be wearing them now: young and old, girls and boys, leggy beauties and women who really shouldn’t….I resisted. I ignored it. I rolled my eyes and then… I gave in. With a t-shirt, with a long sweater, with a dress, with a skirt, with a blazer-it is a very versatile trend.

Not that it is easy to find a good pair of leggings. I went to the usual haunts of H&M, Topshop, Zara-no luck, and I mean NO luck. I saw some cool looking ones at Selfridges by Les Chiffoniers but the prices started at £230. Come on!!! And then I stumbled into Uniqlo. And for under £30 I found them-a grey pair and a black pair with the lace edge. They are easy, comfortably soft and make me feel good. I also, thanks to a friend of mine who is a stylist, have a ‘going out’ pair of Noir leggings. They were much pricier-I still feel guilty thinking about it!!-but they are very hard to resist-black, stretchy, kind of looking like jodhpurs and very cool. They pull a look together very effortlessly and make me feel like a womanly girl.

One last thought-I recently saw Victoria Beckham wearing a pair of her own design, with the zippers at the back. Now, where can I find a pair like that, at a fraction of a price? If you know, let me know….

In the last few days I cannot bear to watch the news talking about the floods in Cumbria and other parts of England. Rescue teams have been absolutely wonderful but my heart breaks seeing people re-enter their homes that are all but ruined. It’s not just the furniture, the walls, the carpets etc., it is the memories, the photos, the feeling of home that those families lost. I cannot even imagine how they must be feeling. Some people haven’t lost their sense of humour in those dire circumstances saying that their kids thought this to be the best adventure of their lives. The innocence of youth is wonderful but it will be down to adults to deal with the aftermath and I hope that the government will make sure that that families are temporarily re-housed and that the insurance companies pay fully the claims, without the usual delays, so people can get on with their lives.